The Harper government announced regulations Thursday aimed at denying heroin to Vancouver addicts involved in clinical research. The move was made less than a year after the former federal health minister said political interference in the drug approval process was a “recipe for disaster.”

Dave Murray tried to beat his heroin addiction with methadone treatments 10 different times since 1971. Nothing worked until he received diacetylmorphine – the active component of the illicit drug – as part of a Providence Health Care clinical trial that enabled him to stabilize his life, volunteer, form a support group and get healthier over the past year.

Severely entrenched addicts who were recently granted Health Canada authorization to receive prescription heroin – a first in the country – will explore their legal options after the federal government announced it has banned the practice, effective immediately.

It has been nearly 10 years since Insite, Vancouver’s supervised injection site opened and two years since the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously determined that it should remain open to protect public health.

Harm reduction has resulted to seek a decline in illicit drug use. It has improved public safety as once Ground Zero for an HIV and overdose epidemic claimed many lives, according to a 15-year study of drug use in Vancouver's impoverished Downtown Eastside.

As an internal medicine physician who works in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and as a researcher who was responsible for the evaluation of Vancouver’s Insite supervised injecting facility, I have been confused by how entrenched the federal government’s opposition to safe-injection programs has become in recent days – despite the clear support of the Canadian Public Health Association and the Canadian Medical Association. Read more.

We wanted to express our gratitude and thanks to the wonderful medical team who attended to our daughter today. She collapsed while running the Vancouver Marathon. From the emergency responders, to the physicians and nurses who looked after her at St. Paul's Hospital, we can't give enough praise.
Denise and Benje”